Twenty-four months. That’s the amount of time FootJoy took developing its new Premiere series, a shoe that’s been a staple on the PGA Tour, and that Cam Young wore in winning the Players Championship. Tour players love the stability and classic look of the shoe, but the last iteration came out five years ago. It was time for a rethink, says Dan Buonomu, FootJoy’s Senior Product Manager. “It is one of those things when you have a shoe that is so popular with so many players,” he says. “It is the number one shoe on the PGA Tour, so you want to keep all the things that made it great. But we knew there were lots of elements we’d tried in recent years that we could bring to the shoe as well.
That means the look of the shoe, classic and sleek, needed to stay the same. But like a classic Ford Mustang, while the aesthetics are key, what’s under the hood was up for a refresh. And that’s exactly what FootJoy engineers have done. A new traction system is the biggest change, coming through research by Canadian Dr. Sasho MacKenzie, as well as through Titleist’s Dr. Greg Rose. The group looked at research of the swing to come up with a shoe that offered up to 29 percent more traction. Leaning into its relationship with PGA Tour pro Wil Zalatoris, FootJoy made significant changes to one of the key elements of the shoe.
“Wil tried them out and said he felt he was losing a competitive advantage going back to the older model,” says Buonomu.
Key technologies
ARCTrax Outsole
The biggest change in the shoe is the ARCTrax outsole that FootJoy designers worked diligently to create. Through significant research it was determined the new outsole would increase traction by 29 percent, with designers working significantly on how the angle of the foot changed the ground connection. “We learned the optimal angle for ground force reaction and brought that into the shoe,” says Buonomo. The new outsole uses an anti-channeling traction pattern with concentric flex zones to enhance grip.
Lighter
FootJoy wasn’t keen on altering the shoe too much. After all, a lot of golfers love the weight of the prior generation. But FootJoy was cognizant of the need to make the shoe slightly lighter for those walking up to 10 km over the course of a round. The result was a decrease of 10 percent in weight. It isn’t the lightest shoe by any measure, but it is significantly lighter than the previous generation while keeping the stability players have come to trust.
Comfort
The Premiere is a classic design, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be more comfortable. One of the keys to the new version is the Ortholite moulded tongue, designed to stay in place and secure the foot. There’s also more padding around the ankle collar.
Aesthetics
The traditional look golfers have come to expect is still there, but there’s some tweaks as well. New colourways include grey with a blue midsole and navy outsoles. You’re going to love the changes, even if they are subtle.
Are they for me?
FootJoy recommends golfers update their shoes every 60 rounds, or about 600 km depending on whether you walk a lot of your rounds. With that in mind, the Premiere offers the classic look that connects the modern game with history of the sport, while offering a lot of modern technology updates. If you love the classic look, but want the best of a modern shoe, this is for you.